CHAPTEE XV. 



AUGUST TO NOVEMBER. 

 Golden-rod and Asters. 



The name golden-rod con- 

 jures up the thought of 

 an immense family of flowers thirty odd 

 members of which a person with a fair 

 knowledge of botany may easily identify 

 without searching through a wide tract of 

 country, and possibly without wandering 

 but a few yards beyond the highways of 

 our Northeastern States. In a quarter-mile 

 length of a road In Campton, N. H., I have 

 s. arguta. found no less than fifteen varieties of the 

 flower, " all well defined " (to quote the 

 words of Coleridge in reference to the smells of 

 Cologne). But this is rather unusual, and a short 

 exploration of a field, hillside, shady glen, and un- 

 frequented wayside might result in as good if not a 

 better " find." There are a few very common varie- 

 ties of the golden-rod which may be recognized at- 

 once by the following characteristics : 



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